“…Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”

“Oh God, You promised!” (In progress…please comment)

May 7, 2006

I'm reading Prayers of a God-Chaser by Tommy Tenney. Right now, I'm in the second chapter, which talks about Prayers of Desperation. Tenney shares with the reader a quote from C.S. Lewis, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conciences, but shouts to us in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

"God whispers to us in our pleasures…" I wonder if it's not God whispering, but our capacity to hear him when we are caught up in that from which we derive enjoyment. Like a child who doesn't hear the shouts of his mother announcing mealtime because he is caught up in a rousing game of "Hide and Seek" or another such childhood game, I wonder if we don't hear God shouting over the din of our pleasures. Just as an avid concert-goer can experience difficulties with hearing due to exposure to overly loud sounds, we too can become de-sensitized to the siren song of worldly pleasures and can experience a spiritual "ringing in the ears" which muffles the call of God to our hearts.

"God…speaks to us in our consciences…" I believe that God does speak to us through our concience, or our "gut instinct" as some may call it. Who better to work on a sub-concious level than the One who created our very being. In that moment when we choose between right and wrong, perhaps God is showing us the better way through our "conscience."

"God…shouts to us in our pains…" It is in that moment of intense agony that, as we cry out, whether to God or man, that I believe God cries out to us. Trying to show us that this fallen world was not His plan, He uses the only thing that will break through our cry of pain – His own shouts. Shouts of warning to turn from a life lived not according to His will. Shouts of anger at the injustices His children face daily. Shouts of agony as He watches His lambs led to the slaughter by the Enemy.

"It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." Are we caught up in our pleasures, unable to hear God's voice above the noise of everyday life? Are we blocking His guiding hand moving in the unseen moments each day? Are we crying out for help from the pain of heartbreak or sorrow? Perhaps God is trying to gain your attention through the only means possible. Above the noise and din of life, is God shouting to you?

Perhaps your pain is from the sorrow of an unfulfilled promise that you are waiting on from God. Tenney also tells the story of Duncan Campbell, the leader of the Hebrides Revival in Great Britain. He relates the story of a prayer meeting where noone wanted to leave, but after a time, they did. When most of the people had gone, a young man stood and prayed a prayer of desperation, hope, and desire – all in four little words: "Oh God, You promised!" At that moment, a sound was heard, not unlike chariot wheels, on the roof of the church and people began pouring into the church. At that moment, that young man heard the heart-cry of God and offered the only thing he could in that moment – his willingness to be used by the Holy Spirit to pray a prayer of desperation that effected change in the spiritual realms.